We show that ultracold fermions in an artificial magnetic field open up a new window to the physics of the spinful fractional quantum Hall (FQH) effect. We numerically study the lowest energy states of strongly interacting few-fermion systems in rapidly rotating optical microtraps. We find that skyrmion-like ground states with locally ferromagnetic, long-range spin textures emerge. To realize such states experimentally, rotating microtraps with higher-order angular momentum components may be used to prepare fermionic particles in a lowest Landau level. We find parameter regimes in which skyrmion-like ground states should be accessible in current experiments and demonstrate an adiabatic pathway for their preparation in a rapidly rotating harmonic trap. The addition of long range interactions will lead to an even richer interplay between spin textures and FQH physics.
Light is an excellent medium for both classical and quantum information transmission due to its speed, manipulability, and abundant degrees of freedom into which to encode information. Recently, space-division multiplexing has gained attention as a means to substantially increase the rate of information transfer by utilizing sets of infinite-dimensional propagation eigenmodes such as the Laguerre-Gaussian “donut” modes. Encoding in these high-dimensional spaces necessitates devices capable of manipulating photonic degrees of freedom with high efficiency. In this work, we demonstrate controlling the optical susceptibility of an atomic sample can be used as powerful tool for manipulating the degrees of freedom of light that pass through the sample. Utilizing this tool, we demonstrate photonic mode conversion between two Laguerre-Gaussian modes of a twisted optical cavity with high efficiency. We spatiotemporally modulate the optical susceptibility of an atomic sample that sits at the cavity waist using an auxiliary Stark-shifting beam, in effect creating a mode-coupling optic that converts modes of orbital angular momentum l = 3 → l = 0. The internal conversion efficiency saturates near unity as a function of the atom number and modulation beam intensity, finding application in topological few-body state preparation, quantum communication, and potential development as a flexible tabletop device.
Optical cavities have found widespread use in interfacing to quantum
emitters. Concerns about backreflection and resulting loss, however,
have largely prevented the placement of optics such as lenses or
modulators within high-finesse cavities. In this work, we demonstrate
a million-fold suppression of backreflections from lenses within a
twisted optical cavity. We achieve this by quantitatively exploring
backscatter in Fabry–Perot resonators, separating the effect into
three physical sectors: polarization, mode envelope, and transverse
mode profile. We describe the impact of each of these sectors and
demonstrate how to minimize backreflections within each. This
culminates in measured effective reflectivities below the
part-per-billion level for the fundamental mode. Additionally, we show
that beams carrying orbital angular momentum experience up to
10
4
times additional suppression, limited
only by the density of states of other cavity modes. The understanding
and techniques described in this work could expand the utility of
optical resonators in topics ranging from quantum optics and cavity
quantum electrodynamics to ring resonators and laser gyroscopes.
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